Southern Time Christmas

"Gather the young'uns and grown-up-ones too/Sit back and relax, you can kick off your shoes,/And I'll tell you a tale full of down-home good cheer,/Of how Christmas works when it travels down here." A playful takeoff on the classic Christmas poem The Night Before Christmas, Robert Bernardini's Southern Time Christmas introduces li'l elf Jed, one of Santa's helpers and the casualty of some all-too-reckless flying by Santa and his reindeer. When Jed is thrown overboard by a sharp turn one balmy Southern Christmas Eve while delivering toys with St. Nick, he imparts the true story of Santa and the South. For it is not well known that Santa is a bona fide lover of Southern ways. According to Jed, Santa is a Southerner at heart, and jumps at the chance to trade in his warm layers of heavy coats, sweaters, and mittens for comfortable overalls and a well-worn baseball cap. Munching on the home fries and grits and other Southern vittles that Mrs. Claus packed away for the trip, Jed and Santa deliver toys throughout the South, relishing the warm nights and spreading good Southern cheer. With a charming text and entertaining full-color illustrations, this delightful adaptation of the well-known Christmas poem will please both Southerners and those who simply wish they were. Robert Bernardini, creator of "li'l elf Jed," is the author of A Southern Time Christmas, as well as the popular follow-up, Southern Love for Christmas. In his travels and school presentations, Bernardini emphasizes the need for stories, lore, and traditions for the South, where there is Christmas without snow. He graduated with a master's degree from Virginia Polytechnic Institute and lives in Amherst, Virginia, where he is a freelance writer, marketing consultant, and record producer. James Rice is widely acclaimed as the South's leading illustrator of juvenile books. With nearly 900,000 copies of his books in print, he ranks among one of the nation's top authors and illustrators. Rice completed his M.F.A. studies at Stephen F. Austin University. He holds degrees in art from the University of Texas and Howard Payne College and has taught art and music at both the high school and college levels.Bernardini, Robert is the author of 'Southern Time Christmas', published 1991 under ISBN 9780882898285 and ISBN 0882898280.